God's Stories Teach Us What To Do

"But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22)

Tyrell and Tia couldn't wait to get to Sunday School. Last week, the teacher, Mrs. Naginflagin, had told them that each person in the class could get up in front of the class and tell his or her favorite Bible story. So, all week long, Tyrell and Tia had been getting ready to tell their favorite Bible story.

Tyrell's favorite Bible story was David and Goliath. Tyrell wasn't very tall; in fact he was the shortest in his class--even the girls were taller than him! He liked the story of a small boy taking down a big giant.

Tia's favorite story was about the birth of Moses. She loved the fact that Moses' mother gave up her baby so that his life would be saved. She liked seeing how God made it possible for Moses' mother to get Moses back, in a way. She got to raise her own son because Pharaoh's daughter found him floating in the basket and wanted one of his own people to help her care for him.

Sunday morning finally came. As Tyrell and Tia took their seats, they looked around wondering what was everyone else's favorite story would be. "Good morning, class," said Mrs. Naginflagin. "Today, each of you will get to tell the rest of the class your favorite Bible story. Who wants to go first?"

Immediately Tyrell's hand shot up into the air. Mrs. Naginflagin invited him to walk to the front of the room, and he began to tell the class the story of David and Goliath. And Tyrell got excited! He went into all the great details of the story, even bringing up other classmates to help act out the awesome fight scene (of course, Tyrell was "David" and the biggest boy on the class had to be "Goliath"). It made Tyrell feel good when his "stone" (it was really a crumpled up piece of paper) hit the "giant" in the forehead and knocked him to the ground.

One by one, each kid in the class told his or her favorite story. When it was all done, Mrs. Naginflagin began to teach the Sunday School lesson. She began with a question. "What do you think God wants you to do because of the story you just told?" Tyrell and Tia had never thought about that before; they just liked the stories.

Mrs. Naginflagin told them to turn to James 1:22--"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Mrs. Naginflagin began to teach the class a very important lesson. She said that God's Word does not have these stories in it only because they are "cool stories." God's stories are wonderful stories, but they are more than that! These stories are actual events--they really did happen! And God included them in the Bible so that we would learn about Him from them, and so that we would know how we should act.

Tyrell and Tia had never really thought of God's stories that way before. Now as they remembered their favorite stories, they paid attention. They thought about how God might want them to act based on the truths they learned about Him from the stories. Tyrell leaned that God can give strength to fight His battles, even when the chances of winning seem impossible, and no matter how hard it seems. And Tia learned from what happened with Moses' mom that she should rely on God for protection and blessing, even when everything seems hopeless. Both of them saw good reasons in their favorite stories for trusting God and obeying God.

God gave us His stories to teach us about Himself, and we should act on what we learn from them.

My Response: » What is my favorite Bible story? » Have I ever thought about what my favorite Bible story teaches me about God? » Have I changed my behavior based on what God has taught me about Himself from His Word?

Andrew Murray

"Faith expects from God what is beyond all expectation.”

Born on May 9, 1828, Andrew Murray was raised a “missionary kid” in one of the most remote areas of the world – Graaff-Reinet, South Africa. When he grew up, he too would eventually become a missionary in South Africa, but not before God took him through many events and circumstances to help grow him and prepare him for his future missionary ministry.

The Murray home was a godly home. Often, on Friday nights, Andrew Murray’s father would bring the family together and read them stories of past revivals. The family would then pray for the souls of South Africa. This would go on in the Murray home for thirty years.

When Andrew Murray was 10 years old, he left with his brother, John, to study in Scotland. When he was 20, he was ordained to preach. When he returned to South Africa, he looked much younger than his age. In fact, he was so small and thin that a local farmer saw him and exclaimed, “Why, they have lent us a girl to preach to us!”

Murray may have been small physically, but he had a large and powerful ministry! He gave sixty years of his life to South Africa, wrote more than 200 books and tracts on the Christian life, and was used of God to lead South Africa into a great season of revival.

Murray is perhaps best-known for his writing on the subject of prayer. He believed wholeheartedly that prayer is the fuel for the Christian life. He once said, “Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do.”

When was the last time you prayed? Before you ate? Before you slept? The right kind of prayer is the one where the requests are thought about least and God is thought about most. Prayer is not supposed to be a list of things we want – but rather a time to talk to our God. Are you tempted to think sometimes that you probably already know what God can do? Do not let yourself limit God. Pray with faith that He knows what He is doing and that He will do the absolute best thing for His glory and for your good!

1 Thessalonians 5:17 – Pray without ceasing.

Description of God

The Light of the Morning2 Samuel 23:4 "And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain."

Question & Answer

How does God reveal the most important things of Scripture – including Christ?

God reveals the truth of His Word through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:10 – But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

BIG Christian Word

Creation - (kree-a-shun)

The word "creation" means to make from nothing. God created the entire universe out of nothing; it was originally very good; and he created it to glorify himself. This means that before God began to create the universe, nothing else existed except God himself. (Genesis 1:1) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."